GREAT BRITAIN’S STANCE TOWARDS POLITICAL CHANGES IN CHINA IN THE YEARS 1908–1909
GREAT BRITAIN’S STANCE TOWARDS POLITICAL CHANGES IN CHINA IN THE YEARS 1908–1909
Author(s): Jan PajorSubject(s): Diplomatic history, Political history, Pre-WW I & WW I (1900 -1919)
Published by: Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: British foreign policy; Edward Grey’s diplomacy; Great Britain’s policy towards China; dismissal of Yuan Shikai; death of Cixi and Guangxu; death of Zhang Zidong; Zaifeng’s regency;
Summary/Abstract: Between 1908 and 1909, significant political changes took place in China. Following the death of the nominal sovereign, Guangxu, and the Empress Dowager Cixi, who exercised real power, the minor Puyi was selected as the new emperor. The regency was assumed by the weak and inept Prince Chun, who dismissed the most in- fluential imperial dignitary, Yuan Shikai, in early 1909. When the second major digni- tary, Zhang Zidong, died shortly later, the Beijing authorities found themselves in cri- sis. The article shows how Great Britain, which had the strongest position among the powers in China, reacted to these developments.
Journal: Kwartalnik Historyczny
- Issue Year: 130/2023
- Issue No: 7
- Page Range: 47-81
- Page Count: 35
- Language: English